spraynpray said:
Hey, I didn't get where I am today without handling a few dodgey chemicals ;)Now what was I doing....
LOL But I still think you should rethink that... The stuff in there can make a bang big enough to take out a room..
Sorry 'bout this - counterfeit batteries question from newbie
(59 posts) (15 voices)-
Posted 3 years ago #
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i've been a lurker on this forum for almost a year now (since before there was a forum i think...) and I though i'd chip in with an alternate opinion.
I've had a D60 for almost 2 years now and i bought a $10 battery on ebay very early on. This was not a counterfeit battery, it was clearly advertised as "compatible with Nikon", with no box or branding.
a few months later i lost my "real" battery and being a poor college student i bought a second ebay battery.
in the end i have had zero difference in performance and no battery issues (so far).
as an added note a few years ago my dad got an ebay battery for his camcorder and it has worked perfectly for about 4 years now.
All i'm saying is that all off-brand batteries are not ticking time bombs. To be honest the real reason i haven't bought any Nikon batteries is that i plan to upgrade to a D90(s) or D300(s) in the next year, so don't want to waste money on ENL9 batteries, but still me experience has been pretty positive. I have no issues using a off-brand battery as a "backup". a cheap second battery is much better than no backup battery in my opinion.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Wow that sounds like an impressive fake I have to say. Talk about dangerous though! In my experience having lived in Asia for so long now, real Nikon batteries, at least the ones that have worked well for me have always said "made in Japan". Fakes have always been made in China and usually do not have the Nikon label edged into the plastic body on the top. This being said, your item seems to fly in the face of my logic! I have used fake batteries as well and my camera worked fine. What have you decided to do? I own 2 real batteries now and one fake for my D700. I used one real battery and one fake with my D40,D40x, D80, and D300 before my D700 upgrade last Christmas.
Posted 3 years ago # -
warprints said:
Aftermarket battery makers are usually just trying to get market share (although sometimes not). Counterfeiters are by definition cheats. They want to commit fraud by getting you to think you're paying money for a genuine product. They are generally most interested in maximizing profit, not maximizing repeat customers. The package may look good, but the insides are junk.Yep and I wouldn't trust the battery capacity that is printed on counterfeit batteries, I'm sure they won't have a problem to print 1050 mAh on the battery while it may actually only have 500 mAh.
Posted 3 years ago # -
kanuck said:
Wow that sounds like an impressive fake I have to say. Talk about dangerous though! In my experience having lived in Asia for so long now, real Nikon batteries, at least the ones that have worked well for me have always said "made in Japan". Fakes have always been made in China and usually do not have the Nikon label edged into the plastic body on the top. This being said, your item seems to fly in the face of my logic! I have used fake batteries as well and my camera worked fine. What have you decided to do? I own 2 real batteries now and one fake for my D700. I used one real battery and one fake with my D40,D40x, D80, and D300 before my D700 upgrade last Christmas.I wouldn't say every fake is made in China. I mean, the 35mm 1.8 is made in China and I love it!
Posted 3 years ago # -
I will chip in
in my work we use cheopo non Nikon batteries almost exclusively, why? Because the camera's aren't our's and the company is too cheap to buy Nikon brand batteries. The batteries are abused as hell, and they work fine. Though they weren't bought on ebay. They are the kind that are compatible with Nikon xyz cameras. We bought them in a regular camera store.
Though I must be honest the thought of the battery exploding as have the camera near my eye is alway in the back of my head.
For my own cameras I will only use Nikon original batteries.
There's a Polish saying that applies here.
If you are rich enough to own a dog , you are rich enough to have a doghouse as well.
Don't be cheap and skimp.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Well, a cheapo battery really might explode on you, there's a bit of lithium in the batteries, so if it's badly sealed and meets moisture, it will burn.
Posted 3 years ago # -
There better be lithium in them, considering they are Lithium Ion batteries. lol
Posted 3 years ago # -
I didn't mean to bash China, my 50mm 1.4D lens is made there to. I just meant that all the non nikon alternative batteries I can buy where I reside are made in China. Therefore, I guess you could ask then, are they really fake or just alternatives to the Nikon brand battery?
Posted 3 years ago # -
poster said:
...
in my work we use cheopo non Nikon batteries almost exclusively, why? Because the camera's aren't our's and the company is too cheap to buy Nikon brand batteries. The batteries are abused as hell, and they work fine. Though they weren't bought on ebay. They are the kind that are compatible with Nikon xyz cameras. We bought them in a regular camera store.
...Aftermarket batteries which have their brand name printed on it will likely be more reliable and true to their advertised capacity than fake counterfeit batteries.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Panamon_Creel said:
Aftermarket batteries which have their brand name printed on it will likely be more reliable and true to their advertised capacity than fake counterfeit batteries.That's what I was trying to say earlier on. Aftermarket batteries are NOT fake batteries. Batteries that say NIKON on them (not just made for Nikon cameras), but are not really Nikon OEM batteries, are fake. It is the FAKE batteries that are almost always less than desirable.
Sure, there are lots of examples of - oh, I used a counterfeit (fake) Nikon battery for ten years and nothing happened. So what. Play Russian Roulette with s six shooter and MOST of the time, statistically, you will not shoot yourself. Doesn't make it a game I want to play.Posted 3 years ago # -
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A point that nobody seems to adquately address, is why go to the bother of making a REALLY good counterfeit when you can just put cheap easy labels on it and sell it in an ordinary box as an aftermarket generic? I checked the Nikon website before contacting them because I could not see much difference at all - only the four notches in the hologram label missing (I bet the next lot have that too). The box is actually identical, they were unable to fault it at all and so it is possible perhaps that as the Nikon battery is assembled in China with Japanese cells, they may have bought some Nikon boxes from the Nikon supplier?
Here are some snaps (I hope img codes off photobucket work here), see if you can see a difference:
[IMG]http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0008.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0009.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0019.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0021.jpg[/IMG]Oops - they don't. I'm off to find out how to post pics here....
I give up! How do you post pics?
Posted 3 years ago # -
I use only Nikon, no clones or 2nd party replacements. I've tried cheaper batteries with Panasonic cordless phones and they would drop calls when the battery was low, no warning, just dead. I found that brand mattered.
A lot fraud in the world. It's why it pays to know your retailer. A lot of counterfeit product look identical on the outside, but that's it. Cheaper internal components, missing functionality, no regard for safety... I wish we still had government to police these issues.
Posted 3 years ago # -
It would be this way:
<img src="http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0009.jpg" />
<img src="http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0019.jpg" />
<img src="http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0021.jpg" />gives
Posted 3 years ago # -
Ah, gotcha Jonny, thanks.
Here is the last one then:
Posted 3 years ago # -
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spraynpray said:
A point that nobody seems to adquately address, is why go to the bother of making a REALLY good counterfeit when you can just put cheap easy labels on it and sell it in an ordinary box as an aftermarket generic?Dude - You must be way too honest for your own good. People don't make counterfeit batteries to just feel good about being a nikon "dealer". They make the cheapest crap, spend a few bucks on packaging (both for the battery and the box) to make it look like a Nikon battery, because you'll then buy the fake Nikon product for $25 (hey, what a deal, half off B&H prices !!). So you just spent $25 on a battery that is probably half the power of the OEM and cost the mfr about $2.
Posted 3 years ago # -
kanuck said:
I didn't mean to bash China, my 50mm 1.4D lens is made there to. I just meant that all the non nikon alternative batteries I can buy where I reside are made in China. Therefore, I guess you could ask then, are they really fake or just alternatives to the Nikon brand battery?Don't worry, I was just joking.
Wow, the 50mm 1.4 is made there too? I would like it to be made in Thailand better, at least Nikon is well established there.
Posted 3 years ago # -
I agree just stick with Nikon batteries they last longer, charge properly, and have good track records compared to non-Nikon brands. Why risk it? I am keeping my alternative brand as an emergency third battery.
NSXType-R, I was surprised the 50mm 1.4D was made in China also. Its such a famous lens. The 50mm 1.8, which is equally famous, is also made in China so go figure. Thailand as you probably know makes a lot of Nikon's glass and bodies now. All the nice DX stuff like 18-200, 55-200, D300, D300s etc. I don't think any glass is made in China now. Being a Canadian, I always felt a sense of pride when I discovered that Leica Leitz made M lenses in Canada in the 1980s for many years and the quality is almost indentical to those made in Germany! Just wanted to sneak that in there. :)D haha
Posted 3 years ago # -
If anything Nikon is making more stuff in China now than before. The 50mm F1.4D was made in Japan for a long time, but that changed a few years ago to lower the price. Most of the DX lenses are made in China, in fact I was surprised to find that my 85mm F3.5G Micro was made in China, considering the $500+ price tag I was expecting it to be made in Thailand.
Posted 3 years ago # -
You know what's funny?
it doesn't matter where the stuff is made. So Sigma lenses are made in japan, and yet their quality control sucks arse. You have to be lucky not to get a lemon lense.( Fortunately I was with my 50mm 1.4)
Nikon keeps very strict quality control in their manufacturing centers, it could be made by four fingered one eyed man, and if it passed the quality control of Nikon's then it's going to be sold, but if the product never gets through the quality control than we never have to worry about buying Nikon gear and fearing that we might get a lemon. That's why we should not worry where the stuff is made.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Well, I can tell you that the stuff from China is not as well made as that from Thailand. Even the lens cap on the 85mm F3.5 Micro feels cheap compared the one that came with my 50mm F1.8D, I'm tempted to grab an old pinch cap from an older lens!
Posted 3 years ago # -
kanuck said:
I agree just stick with Nikon batteries they last longer, charge properly, and have good track records compared to non-Nikon brands. Why risk it? I am keeping my alternative brand as an emergency third battery.NSXType-R, I was surprised the 50mm 1.4D was made in China also. Its such a famous lens. The 50mm 1.8, which is equally famous, is also made in China so go figure. Thailand as you probably know makes a lot of Nikon's glass and bodies now. All the nice DX stuff like 18-200, 55-200, D300, D300s etc. I don't think any glass is made in China now. Being a Canadian, I always felt a sense of pride when I discovered that Leica Leitz made M lenses in Canada in the 1980s for many years and the quality is almost indentical to those made in Germany! Just wanted to sneak that in there. :)D haha
PB PM said:
If anything Nikon is making more stuff in China now than before. The 50mm F1.4D was made in Japan for a long time, but that changed a few years ago to lower the price. Most of the DX lenses are made in China, in fact I was surprised to find that my 85mm F3.5G Micro was made in China, considering the $500+ price tag I was expecting it to be made in Thailand.PB PM said:
Well, I can tell you that the stuff from China is not as well made as that from Thailand. Even the lens cap on the 85mm F3.5 Micro feels cheap compared the one that came with my 50mm F1.8D, I'm tempted to grab an old pinch cap from an older lens!Good points guys. :D
Thing is though, the "Made in China" branding is something I don't really like because of the infant formula issue that they had. It most definitely has nothing to do with Nikon, I just associate it with that. But Poster, you're right, I hear Sigma's usually a hit and miss. Besides, most Macs are made in China, and most of them come out alright.
And in any case, my copy of the 35mm 1.8 is fine too and took wonderful pictures the other day.
So yeah, it's just a bad reputation thing.
Although I would expect the D300s to be built in Japan, not Thailand. It's funny how my old Nikon point and shoot is built in Japan but not my D40. :D
I guess it's only the exotic lenses and the D3 line of bodies that are built in Japan now.
On a side note, why do old film bodies have the "QC Passed" gold sticker on them? My dad's FM2 and my Mamiya both have them on it. I assume it's Quality Control, but how come they don't stick them anymore on bodies? Was it a Japanese thing only?
Posted 3 years ago # -
PB PM and poster you are both right. I get awfully nervous with my 28-80 G lens (made in Thailand) just like I used to get nervous with my old 1.8 50mm made in China lens. They both feel like you could break them in the palm of your hand and the same with hoods, caps etc.
Poster, as you say, Nikon quality control is very strict and the consumer never has to worry about quality. I love my 35mm ZF Zeiss lens. As soon as open the box, its full of certificates, and a letter of inspection approval signed by hand in pen! Mind you, these ZF lenses are designed in Japan, but yes I think we should trust quality control regardless of where the lenses are made.
Posted 3 years ago #
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